Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
As a key deadline looms, congressional negotiators may be inching closer to a compromise on a new farm bill.
Leaders of the House Agriculture Committee are expected this week to release a farm bill proposal that will meet the demands of the White House. Committee chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and ranking member Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., have reportedly been negotiating with Bush administration officials to craft new farm legislation and avoid a threatened veto.
All current farm programs are set to expire on March 15, adding to a sense of urgency in the negotiations. If a new farm bill is not signed into law before that date, many federal farm programs will automatically revert to those under the permanent law of 1949. That's an unacceptable scenario to many environmentalists, since there were no conservation programs in the 1949 law.
Both houses of Congress passed their own versions of the new farm bill last year, but a conference committee has not yet convened to reconcile differences between the two bills. The Bush administration has threatened to veto both versions of the bill because of what it has characterized as "tax increases" and a lack of reform in farm commodity program payments.
Peterson and Goodlatte sent a letter Tuesday to Senate Agriculture Committee leaders stating that they have developed "a new outline for spending" that they believe "can be achieved and become law."
Senate Agriculture Committee leaders were expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Shafer on Wednesday to discuss the farm bill. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is to discuss the proposal on Thursday during a conference call with agriculture reporters.
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